ANTIBALAS - Hourglass

CATALOG: DAP-081 RELEASE DATE: 10/24/2025 With Hourglass, Antibalas returns to its instrumental roots. “Once a song has lyrics, everyone who doesnʼt speak that language is on the outside. We use rhythm and melody to translate the emotions in the album and make it universally accessible,” explains the co-producer/founder Martín Perna. The new album draws on compositions written by several current and emeritus members of the group. "Hourglass" begins with a plaintive and ecstatic tenor saxophone solo before digging into an intense 12-8 groove. The group pivots with “Lo-Life” highlighting the groupʼs ability to swing a lá Machito or the 1970s Ghanaian dance band leaders like Gyedu Blay-Ambolley. Others like “Solace,” “Escape” and “La Ceiba,” conjure echoes of the classic Lagos afrobeat sound, albeit spoken with a Brooklyn accent. “Oasis,” the albumʼs finale, is a step into a psychedelic unknown future, with a deep sense of liberatory funk eternally at its core.